Opinion: the murtha house race: can republicans turn tim burns into the next scott brown?

_This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts._ Stand by for the next SCOTT BROWN. Between now and May 18

you are likely to hear much more about someone named TIM BURNS. Quietly in recent days influential Republicans led by former House Speaker NEWT GINGRICH have been laying out a strategic

campaign to nationalize the as-yet little-known special election for a House seat in Pennsylvania’s 12th district. Hmm, special election. Sound familiar? Massachusetts. January. BARACK OBAMA

desperately campaigning for Democrat MARTHA COAKLEY to fill the Senate seat of the late Democrat TED KENNEDY. But, oops, in charges a little-known Republican state senator, a Washington

outsider named Scott Brown riding a pickup truck and a surging national wave of anti-Obama, anti-healthcare bill support to snatch a Bay state Senate seat for the GOP for the first time in

four decades. An election that became a symbol both of hope for Republicans and trouble for.... ...Democrats, who control both houses of Congress with large majorities and are still

fighting. But Brown’s win ended their 60-seat Senate control. Flash forward to May. Special election. May 18 to fill the vacant House seat of the late Democrat pork barrel powerhouse JOHN

MURTHA. And here comes Tim ‘It’s Time for Real Change’ Burns, a Republican from outside Washington seeking to tap into that same anti-Obama, anti-Congress sentiment. Here’s how Burns

describes himself perfectly for this season of anti-incumbency: > My name is Tim Burns and I am NOT a politician. I don’t claim to > know ‘how Washington works’ because I don’t believe

 that it > does. I’ve never secured wasteful pork barrel spending and I > don’t spend more than I have. I am a businessman, who is tired of > the massive government spending, 

trillions of dollars of debt and > the corruption in Congress. And for those who are responsible for > these atrocities; it’s time to Vote Them Out. I’m not just > running for US 

Congress, I intend to win. Join me and together we > will take back this country! If Burns becomes the latest national political focus of the anti-administration crowd’s support and money

and pulls off the upset, many will see it as a further forecast of what’s coming Nov. 2 in the crucial midterm elections that will set the politcal table for the two-year run-up to 2012. In

a private newsletter to supporters earlier this week Gingrich urged donations to the Burns campaign and said: > This election can be seen as a preview for the elections in > November.

 PA-12 is a Democratic district, but it is also very rural > and culturally conservative. While it had overwhelmingly elected > Democrat Jack Murtha for decades, it has rapidly turned 

against the > Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine. President Obama’s favorability ratings > are ‘upside down:’ 42% approve to 57% disapprove; The Democratic > Congress’ ratings are worse: 33%

 approve to 65% disapprove; The > Democrats’ health plan has only 30% approval. 64% disapprove; With > the coal industry important to western Pennsylvania, the cap and > trade 

energy tax is unpopular as well. Burns is facing MARK CRITZ. The good news for Democrats is Critz knows Washington well. The bad news for Democrats is Critz knows Washington well. He is, in

fact, a former staffer for Murtha, which VP JOE BIDEN pointed out with pride during a Critz fundraiser last week. That was the day JB went against White House advice again and boldly

predicted creating 200,000 new jobs next month. Thanks for the campaign help, Joe. But Critz is now running away from the Obama administration that just helped him, telling voters in the

working class district near Pittsburgh that he opposes the healthcare bill that his party’s president just spent the last year getting. He’s also claiming to be pro-gun and pro-life. What

does that tell you about the voters’ mood in the primary state that went for HILLARY CLINTON after Obama famously denigrated the small town folks there clinging to their guns and religion?

Gingrich observes: > Critz’s challenge is the same all Democrats will face this fall. > As they try to distance themselves from the job killing policies of > the Obama-Pelosi-Reid 

machine, they will still need to rely on the > fundraising and publicity-generating capacity of the national > Democratic leaders responsible for pushing and passing those deeply > 

unpopular policies. Polls have the race close, but noted analyst Charlie Cook thinks the district is leaning Republican this time. Mark your calendar. May 18. The top card: Tim Burns vs Mark

Critz. Related items: Obama’s fifth-quarter approval slips, among worst 3 modern presidents Red flag for Obama: Americans now prefer Hillary Clinton Americans not buying Obama’s hopeful

economy talk If U.S. presidency doesn’t work out for Obama, poll says he’d do well in Europe -- Andrew Malcolm The good news for you is it’s free to click here to receive Twitter alerts of

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